General article about mobile phones and advocacy
From TTC: Mobile Advocacy Toolkit Working Meeting wiki
General article about mobiles phones and advocacy FR
Contents |
[edit] Background
The mobile landscape is extremely complex.
To illustrate the complexity consider the example of an organisation wishing to develop a regional or global campaign. If they want to use a website to publicise their campaign they can set up a simple web page, host it with a sympathetic ISP and publicise it through a variety of different means; all at a reasonably low cost, using a variety of Open Source tools. Guides to help them set up their site and run their campaign online are now widely available on the internet.
If they wished to publicise the same campaign using SMS messages they would have to buy an easy to remember short code number and create an account with an aggregation company. They will then need to ensure that they have the mobile numbers in the correct international format for all the people they wish to send messages to. They would have to harvest the numbers of the prospective recipients whilst ensuring they comply with the relevant data protection regulations in their country regarding these numbers. They also have to ensure that there is an easy mechanism for people to unsubscribe from the messages and manage that process.
If an organisation wishes to distribute an application for their members to use directly on their phone the situation is more complex as there are challenges involved in getting even the simplest applications to work on a variety of mobile platforms.
The toolkit will help NGOs and activists negotiate this landscape and make the best use of the potential offered by mobile technologies.
[edit] Challenges of the mobile landscape
By the end of 2007 it is estimated that about half the world will have a mobile phone connection compared to about 300 million who have computers. The mobile telephone can be seen as a 'universal device'; a 'computer in the pocket' which has potential to impact on the lives of the worlds poorest people; not just through voice communication but also through other applications such as funds transfer, information delivery and internet connectivity.
Yet developing applications and knowledge bases for those aiming to exploit mobile technologies for the not for profit and activist sector throws up some serious challenges.
[edit] Mobile operating systems
Firstly the mobile phone operating system. Two operating systems run more than 95 percent of the world’s computers, but dozens of systems are behind the 2.5 billion mobile phones in circulation.
The promises of open source which have led to innovation in the traditional computing environment don't hold true on the mobile because the hardware isn't open for developers. Applications are developed for the mobile operators who pass the functionality onto consumers.
This is the opposite of the web development environment. In the web context innovations develop at a rapid pace because its easy to experiment, make mistakes and 'play' with technologies by producing a 'proof of concept'.
The closed platform presents challenges for those in the not for profit sector wishing to develop mobile applications that are adapted for those with different needs as regarding the usability of the phone. For example if you are looking to localise the phone interface into different languages or produce applications that are appropriate for disabled users (such as the blind or those with tremors).
This landscape is changing with the advent of the Google Android system and the the Open Moko which is billed at the “World's First Integrated Open Source Mobile Communications Platform”. However it is unclear whether the Google system will be able to be installed on older phones.
[edit] The business landscape
For those hoping to implement programmes using mobile technologies there are significant challenges which are related to the global mobile industry; and in particular carriers and aggregation services.
- Legal frameworks which may vary from country to country regarding such issues as data protection, privacy etc.
- Pricing structure and infrastructure which vary from country to country; for example in some regions SMS messages are costly which has impacted on their popularity as a communication method.
- Different cost levels for data and voice.
- The challenges of cross border messaging and roaming; how can an organisation wishing to implement a trans-national messaging programme ensure that the service is reasonably priced in all target countries.
- Service delivery and aggregators; for example if an NGO wishes to implement a large scale SMS delivery by far and away the easiest method is to use a commercial aggregation company (such as Clickatell or BulkSMS) but how can they be sure that their provider is appropriate for their needs?
- Privacy; how can NGOs and activists doing work which is politically sensitive ensure that their conversations and messages remain private.
[edit] Political landscape
Invariably the political landscape of a country or region impacts on the development of programmes and tools using mobile technologies.
Areas to consider are the following:
[edit] Human rights issues
Also worth considering are the political and labour rights issues related to handset manufacture. A recent report detailed the poor working conditions suffered by those working in the factories of the five largest mobile telephone companies: Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG. Workers in factories producing parts for Nokia and Motorola work without proper protection and are exposed to chemicals that cause chronic illnesses and serious physical harm. http://www.somo.nl/html/paginas/nieuws_item.php?id=323
[edit] Environmental issues
As with any electronic device there are issues related to the entire life cycle of production of the mobile phone. The mining of coltan (a mineral essential for mobile manufacturing) is associated with human rights violations in the Democratic of Congo http://www.cellular-news.com/coltan/. The dumping of e-waste such as old mobile phone batteries in developing countries should also be considered. http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=495&ArticleID=5433&l=en
The challenges for the development of a mobile toolkit is to explore the possibilities of interventions which are environmentally sustainable, such as the use of recycled handsets and solar panels for mobile chargers.
[edit] Cultural, language and content issues
There are a variety of issues to be considered in designing interventions and applications.
[edit] Language
Language issues to be considered include the support for minority language fonts on mobile operating systems and the need to ensure that target audiences are able to read messages being sent to them. Installing minority language support on phones is by no means trivial.
As detailed in this discussion on the Nokia forums, in order for a Cambodian person to read messages in their native Khmer on their phone they need to return their phone to an official Nokia repair centre to have the hardware modified.
Other issues relate to the localisation of applications and the need to deliver applications issues to be considered relate to the need to deliver services in more than one language.
[edit] Shared use
When developing programmes its important to remember that mobile phones are often shared between users, especially in developing countries.
Jan Chipchase of Nokia has written eloquently on this issue; "What happens when people share an object that is inherently designed for personal use? And based on how and why people share in what ways can devices and services be redesigned to optimise the shared user experiences? Indeed, should they be re-designed?" http://www.janchipchase.com/sharedphoneuse
[edit] Literacy
The literacy of mobile phone users should not be assumed. Some manufacturers have responded to the challenge of designing for non-literate or semi-literate users by developing mobile phones which respond to voice prompts in local languages. http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto/motofone/
[edit] Accessibility
Issues of accessibility - whether they relate to the visual impairment of users or other disabilities - should also be taken into consideration.
[edit] Cultural issues
In designing interventions and applications cultural issues should also be considered. For example in many cultures SMS is incredibly popular with young people so campaigns aimed at youth may use this technology effectively. Its important to tailor the intervention to the appropriate audiences' use of mobile phones.
[edit] Links and resources
We have also collated other resources, tools, services and documentation which are not included in the toolkit.
